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You either love him or hate him, but it’s difficult to ignore him: Chelsea coach José Mourinho is in the news again. During Sunday’s quarter-final FA Cup tie with Tottenham, he was seen apparently calling the referee something not quite nice in Portuguese. The cameras caught it, and the press followed up on it. Mourinho defended himself by saying: “If you have a microphone in the dug-out, you will hear me use it 20 times … I say it to myself when I'm not happy with something, to my players, when the ball hits the post. I say it 50 times in training. I do not want to be offensive to anybody.” In fact, referee Mike Riley’s report on the game does not mention any abuse, so the Portuguese coach will not face any disciplinary action. However, the over-reaction of the press to the incident prompted Mourinho on Monday to say that he would not be talking to them until the end of the season. So there.
The game itself was a thriller, with in-form Tottenham taking a 3-1 lead by half time, helped by an own goal from versatile (in the wrong way this time!) Ghana international Michael Essien, who on Monday extended his contract with the club for an extra five years. Chelsea were down … but not out; they pulled the score back to 3-3, Kalou with the equaliser just five minutes from time. The game will now go to a replay at White Hart Lane, an extra game neither manager wants as fixtures begin to pile up towards the end of the season.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will also be unhappy that there will have to be a replay after another thriller: Middlesbrough were 0-1 down at home to United but went 2-1 up just after the break and kept the lead until that man again, Cristiano Ronaldo, got the equaliser with a penalty, given for a controversial handball by George Boateng. “We would never get that decision in a million years,” said Boateng. “It would never have gone against United. It is hard being in a minority. Huge clubs like Manchester United get decisions like that.”
The replays will be a headache for some international coaches, especially England’s Steve McClaren. The games will involve more than half of his squad for a vital Euro 2008 qualifier in Israel just five days later. Apart from the possibility of injuries, McClaren will have just one full day of training with his squad.
In one of the other two FA Cup quarter-finals, the romantic possibility of having a Championship (second tier) side progressing to the semi-finals died when a Bouazza goal knocked Plymouth Argyle out at the hands of Watford. The result will cheer Hornets fans up a little after an otherwise disastrous season; the club are equal bottom of the Premiership and ten points away from safety.
Blackburn got their fourth victory in a row, knocking out Manchester City 2-0 at Ewood Park, despite being reduced to ten men for the last 20 minutes after Aaron Makoena was sent off. It was the same Makoena who had given Rovers the lead in the first half. The South African’s nickname is ‘The Axe’, and that might just be what is about to fall on Manchester City coach Stuart Pearce, in the job for two years but possibly on his way out after a disappointing season for Manchester’s ‘second’ club.
The draw for the semi-finals of the Cup was made on Monday, and the two favourites, Manchester United and Chelsea, were kept apart. Blackburn face Tottenham or Chelsea, while Watford receive Manchester United or Middlesbrough, the ties to be played on April 14th and 15th.
North of the border in Scotland, Rangers gave their fans something of a consolation for losing out to Celtic in the title race: they beat their old rivals 1-0 at Celtic Park with a spectacular overhead kick from Ugo Ehiogu. And the confirmation of Celtic’s inevitable title will now be postponed until at least the end of the month.
by Phil Town
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